thank you to anyone still patient enough to read this story xoxox

Crimson Lane - Chapter 12 – The Long Dark Night (pt 1)

In the crowded streets of Coruscant, Kylo Ren tried to disappear. Sleek and silent as the night, smoothly darting between the churning rapids of busy workers. He swept around them, ghost-like, cutting through breaks in the crowd.

Invisible.

"Ben Solo! Over here!"

The voice had come from behind him, ostentatiously loud enough to make the people beside him stop what they were doing and look around.

Who the fuck knew his real name?

His heart railed against his body and he turned hesitantly. The mall was heaving with workers crowding the path. His gaze followed the walkway ahead to a man wearing a brown leather jacket with dark hair, waving at him.

Poe Dameron.

Kylo grimaced as a string of images surfaced in his mind: an inferno of flames ripping through the quiet night, Poe's frantic dash outside his home to see the car spitting and snapping with flames.

Kylo had saved his life that night. Not that the imbecile would ever realise.

He doesn't know it was you. Be friendly. Be quick. Kylo forced himself to smile.

"Ben, buddy! I haven't seen you in years." Poe yanked him into a hug and Kylo's jaw clenched. He hated this, he always had. Even as a boy, whenever he'd fallen over and scraped his knee, Leia would rush out to embrace him. He would run away from her screaming. Tears running down his face and blood gushing from his knee. It had always embarrassed her that she couldn't comfort her child the way the other mothers could. But Kylo had to move through the pain. To run away from people, not the other way around. People just complicated things.

He pulled back, at the end of his tether.

"Where have you been all these years? What are you doing for work now? How are your parents?" Poe said in an excitable rush.

Before Kylo could answer, Poe turned the conversation back to himself: his family, his successes. Kylo nodded, glassy-eyed and bored. There was the distinct smell of Indian food and his stomach rumbled. Poe kept chatting as Kylo searched along the row of cafes and restaurants, his gaze pausing on an unusual gnarled tree with low-hanging branches, desolate in the winter sun. Small buds dotted the barren branch, but there was one flower, breaking out of the darkness, unfurling pristine white petals.

And that was when he felt it. A shiver that started from his scalp and trickled down his neck. A feeling he got when he was being watched. He stiffened, alert and searching, continuing his monotonous grunts in response to Poe until he saw her —

Their eyes met, and her hand covered her mouth in shock.

"Hey, these are my friends. I'll introduce you," Poe said, and the next minute he was being dragged towards her.

Then Kylo noticed the wider scene, a dark hand draped over Rey's shoulder.

The moment Kylo had first seen her, she had been laughing. Then she saw him and her smile disappeared, replaced by an expression that made him feel uncomfortably nervous… like she knew too much.

"Rey, Finn, this is my old buddy Ben Solo," Poe said. "We go way back."

"Solo—as in Senator Organa-Solo?" the man said, Finn, he supposed.

Finn, who liked to put his arm around Rey. Finn, who made her laugh. Finn, whose company she was in without being paid.

"Ex-Senator," Kylo corrected.

"Not for long though," Poe interjected.

Kylo stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"She's back in the fight. Hasn't she told you?"

"No," he said darkly. "We're not on speaking terms. I thought the fact that she was almost killed in office and took half the Resistance with her might have taught her to stop chasing such a fool's errand."

"Is that really what you think?" Rey's drew him in and when he met her eyes, she was no longer in shock standing tall with her arms folded. Defiant and classically Rey. He would almost think it endearing if he wasn't in so much trouble.

"I think people should know when to quit."

"And I suppose you're comfortable with the fact that The First Order has earned almost every government arms contract without going to tender."

Easy, Rey. He gave her a half smile, strained as it was.

"Anyway," Finn interrupted loudly. "It's good to meet you, Solo."

"You too," Kylo conceded but only because Rey was watching him like a hawk.

The shook hands and he flinched at the touch of Finn's sweaty palms. A classic physiological response to attraction. His eyes were bright, and even as he spoke they flitted to Rey.

He can't stop looking at you, he thought, glancing at Rey. Do you know? Is that how they all look at you? Like you're the sun after the longest night?

Kylo bristled, a vein throbbing in his forehead. He wiped Finn's sweat on his pants and reached his hand out to her.

Waiting.

His hand hung in the air, a silent entreaty. Open. She stared at it, pressing her palm against her breastbone as though she were holding her heart in place.

And still, she left him waiting.

"Nice to meet you," he said, leaving his hand open, stretching it closer to her. Take it! Please. I need to know you still trust me.

She reached out to him uncertainly, filling the empty space in his hand. Her slender fingers felt petite, but strong and calloused. She didn't look at him but rather at the sight of their hands entwined.

What had Poe been telling her? What did she think of him now?

Rey, look at me. His grip tightened, more desperate than aggressive.

And this time her hazel eyes met his with gold bursts of colour behind wide pupils, exploding into moss green. It was the first time he'd noticed the palette of colours beneath the midday sun. But while her eyes were brilliant and entrancing, the expression behind them was unreadable, neutral even. She couldn't be impassive. Not with him.

"It's good to meet you, Ben." He was drawn in at the sound of his name on her lips. The soft pucker, the way her tongue touched the roof of her mouth. Why did it sound so different coming from her? But then her eyebrows raised questioningly, and she didn't need to say it. He already knew.

He was fucked.

And yet, she was still holding his hand. He savoured that connection, the only thing tethering him to the light and to hope that things might get better.

His phone rang and he ripped it from his pocket, grip tightening around the frame as he saw the name Snoke on the screen. In a flash, he pulled his hand out of hers and pushed the "hang up" button as though he might have been deactivating a bomb.

"Poe, I need to get back to work," Rey said, poker-faced. "I'll think about what you said."

Kylo's eyes snapped to Poe, that jittery excitement palpable on his face. Then she turned and hugged Finn, and he squeezed her just enough to make her giggle. Kylo's chest tightened at the sight, a seismic panic flooding his system.

Lastly, she turned to Kylo, face neutral, and gave him a quick nod. "Ben."

His lips parted, trying to think of something to say that would make her stay, to spend a moment alone with her, but she left too quickly.

He watched her walk away, tall, confident and purposeful. Whatever Dameron had told her, he wanted to explain that there was more to the story; that he was working to protect her, that he had always protected her. If only she would come back, he would explain.

But she never gave him a chance.

—

Crimson Lane

Later that day, Kylo Ren glared down at his shaking hands. He couldn't go in like this. Clenching and unclenching them, almost hypnotically, he watched the knuckles whitening through his skin. He had spent far too long staring at Snoke's door.

He knocked and waited.

There was a guttural groan, a pause, and then, "Come in."

Kylo entered, looking to the left and right of the door before he stalked to the centre of the room, stepping on the zebra skin rug, another innocent creature Snoke had destroyed.

Snoke was sitting at his mahogany desk, a muted gold silk robe draped around his body, exposing the white of his arms, hairless and dotted with age. His hands clutched at the sides of the desk and there was a rhythm to his breathing that was unnerving.

There was something awkward about the position. Kylo looked up at the mounted lion bust behind him, meeting the cold, empty stare of the beast with fixed intensity; anything was better than watching Snoke doing whatever the fuck he was doing.

"Hux said you wanted to see me," Kylo said at last.

A crooked smile flitted across Snoke's lips, and he groaned once more, eyes rolling.

"Kylo Ren," Snoke panted. "Come closer."

Kylo took a cautious step forward, brows pinched.

"That's right—Ah," Snoke sighed. "You really should…"

Snoke shifted, face twitching as though he were trying to catch hold of something in his mind, an invisible target.

His long, bony fingers curled around the edges of the desk and his mouth dropped. "Go harder!" He spat the words with a shower of spray forming little pinpricks of saliva on his desk. And then he must have kicked at something underneath, because the table jolted and there was a muffled cry.

Rey!

Kylo lurched forward, nostrils flaring, heart pounding, and then stopped. Almost as suddenly as he began. It was enough; Snoke had spied the action straight away, it even seemed to add to his enjoyment as his face spasmed and went limp with a sigh.

There was a choking and gagging sound from underneath his desk, and Kylo's entire body trembled as someone awkwardly climbed out, toppling a chair as she extracted herself from beneath the desk.

"What's up, Kylo?" Phasma stretched her body out with a coy smile, thumb wiping her mouth.

He'd almost ripped Snoke open right there. He would have done it, cleaved him open if he had to. If he had subjected Rey to his… He couldn't afford to lose it now. Not yet, not until he had finished this. Kylo turned away, but not before seeing Phasma glide over to the old man and kiss his wrinkled forehead, from the corner of his eye. The vision made his stomach churn.

He pointedly ignored them and focussed instead on an amber watermark blotting the ceiling above Snoke's desk, still trying to ignore the way Phasma sat on his lap and kissed him like the shrivelled up raisin he was, exchanging knowing glances, always looking back to Kylo.

Snoke whispered something in Phasma's ear and she left, brushing past Kylo on the way.

"Does Rey swallow it for you, Kylo?" Phasma purred.

"Shut up," he growled at her, eyes still fixed on the stain

She laughed at him and gave a casual glance back at Snoke. "Always so serious."

Kylo ignored her, shoving his hands behind his back, clasping them with so much pressure it hurt. The pain grounded him for a moment, helping him to find his centre, even as Snoke's malevolent laugh rose up. He couldn't fall apart. Not now. Not yet.

"Why so high-strung?"

Kylo swallowed, gliding his gaze over Snoke, a benign attempt at looking attentive, but in truth unable to stand the sight of him.

"I've found San Tekka. He has a holiday let across town, near Naboo. He's there pretty frequently, according to the landlady."

Snoke leaned forward, lips wet with hunger.

"Fix this mess." He pointed to the crooked desk and fallen chair.

Kylo pushed them back into place, heart pounding so loudly in his chest he was sure Snoke would hear.

"Well done, Kylo," he said, but there was something a little off-kilter in his gaze, a sharp glimmer in his eye.

Kylo continued, "I can go down there tonight."

"Indeed." Snoke's lifeless eyes fixed on him, unblinking. "Luckily, Hux got one up on you. He found his permanent residence in Jakku, not far from the Niima outpost."

"Really?" Kylo's voice was too high.

"Yes, on Tuanui street. Hux is there now. Extracting information from him."

"I see."

"You're upset."

"No." Kylo's chin shifted, his right eye twitching.

"You are. I would have sent you, Kylo, but no one could find you and you weren't answering your phone."

"Has—" He swallowed, throat tightening. "Hux got him to talk?"

Snoke stared at him, letting the silence settle between them.

"He's found out all he needs. They're waiting for you now to finish the job."

Snoke paused, narrowing his eyes at Kylo. "Unless you're having second thoughts about proving yourself worthy of my trust."

"I told you I would do it if you needed me to."

"And I do," Snoke retorted, his eyes resting on the door. From behind it came the muffled chatter of female voices. "There's a van waiting out back for you. You and Dom can go there now."

Kylo nodded, lips tight, his dark eyes darting between the door and Snoke.

Snoke pulled open the top drawer, carefully pulling out a Glock pistol. "Here, you can use this." He held it out, levelling the barrel towards Kylo, finger at the trigger.

"Pow!" He chuckled as Kylo braced in a sudden rush of fear. "Right between the eyes. Try not to make a mess."

Kylo pulled the gun towards him. It wasn't the first time he'd held a gun, but it was the first time he would kill someone with one. The gun was suddenly heavier in his hand, the metal cold and rough.

He placed it back on the table, unable to bear holding it any longer, pulling gloves from his pocket and putting them on. It was too late for that. He'd wipe the prints later, after he finished the job.

"He has cancer," Kylo said weakly. "I heard it somewhere."

"Do I care?"

"I thought, if you didn't want the attention, we could—"

"No, Kylo. If you don't want attention, then I suggest you get on with your job." Snoke shuffled over to his cabinet on the wall and opened it with a grand flick of his hands. Taking a step back, Snoke crossed his arms and made a clicking sound with his tongue, scouring over his personal range of playthings, pulling out a dog collar and muzzle.

"Honestly, I thought you would be grateful for this opportunity. To take down the man who would threaten everything we have worked for."

We. It was funny how Snoke liked to throw that word around. He couldn't wait to watch it all burn, the First Order, Snoke. All of it.

After snapping at the leash of the dog collar, Snoke narrowed his ice-blue eyes on Kylo.

"For Saturday." He sneered. "Which one would she like?"

Kylo looked down at his gloves, at the way the leather creaked. He was trembling.

"Well?"

"I have no idea."

Snoke chuckled. He reached for Kylo's shoulder, whispering into his ear, "you know Kylo, when the time comes, I will poke her till she squeals like a pig for slaughter."

His breath stank of expensive aftershave, gin and tobacco. Kylo stared dead ahead, but inside he fought hard to keep every muscle in his body locked in place. He knew, as soon as he lost control, that Snoke would be a dead man.

He couldn't…

Breathe.

"You do realise, you only have her while I let you, son."

Kylo tightened his jaw, suppressing his rage. "I paid for her."

"And I pay for you!" Snoke shouted. "Remember? If I hadn't saved you, you'd be rotting in prison with a manslaughter charge. How much would they have on you now, Kylo? Now that I have your fucking face on every single job you've ever done for me. I'm telling you, son, they will have nothing on me, and everything on you!"

"The minute..." Snoke held out his finger, jabbing Kylo's chest with it. "The single fucking minute you even hesitate on my orders, you will be in prison and I will drag that girl down here and have her sprawled out on this desk screaming my name—do you hear me?"

Kylo's couldn't speak, his words trapped deep in his heart. The only control he had was to stand there, steel-faced, fighting every instinct of his body to rip this man apart.

Not yet. Not yet.

"I said do you hear me!?" Snoke hollered.

Kylo dug his fingernails deep into his palm, the edges of his nails slicing into the leather. His body quaked with a decade of rage, built up, behind an internal dam he had created deep inside. One day it would break, one day he would …

Not yet.

There was a sharp crack across his cheekbone. The pain muted into shock, as Kylo reeled from the realisation that Snoke had struck him with the leash, the buckle tearing the skin down the side of his face. A warm trail of blood ran from his brow to his cheek and he gasped, fighting the urge to reach up and cover his face in defence.

"Fuck you, Kylo!" Snoke's voice rained down in a mist of hot saliva, his eyes watering and red. "You make me do these things to you."

Kylo nodded haltingly. His face was exploding in pain, but he gritted his teeth and blinked away rogue tears.

"You must understand, you are the only one I can trust…"

Those words, they were poison. He saw that now. Snoke liked to wrap them in a blanket of praise, but they were still lies and manipulation.

"You believe me, don't you?" he asked, the words sweet and pliant.

Kylo nodded, gaze burning into the floor before Snoke's feet.

"San Tekka's a dead man."

"And the girl? You're too involved with her."

"She's nothing."

"There now. You won't stray again," Snoke cooed, almost to himself. It was Kylo's one advantage, for whatever deranged reason, Snoke treasured him. He was the rabid cur he could parade around and scare his opponents.

Snoke's face broke into a smile, and a single tear zig-zagged through the broken lines of his face. And then he reached out, touching his thumb to Kylo's cheek, wiping the blood away.

Kylo stiffened. The act of Snoke touching him, intimately, like a father, made his stomach wrench.

"No harm done." Snoke pulled his hand back, surveying the blood on his fingers, bringing them to his mouth, licking each one clean.

He was a fucking madman.

"Off you go, son," Snoke said gently, moving back to his computer and turning on the monitor. "As always, I will be watching."

—-

The first thing Rey noticed when she came in that evening was that Rose wasn't smiling.

And then, like a flick of a switch, she was.

The moment between the two expressions was terse, quiet, like the wait between thunder and lightning. Rey had watched her back long enough to know when things weren't right. The hairs on her forearms seemed to stand on end, and the air felt clearer somehow, charged.

"Hey," Rey said with a smile, casually stepping forward, but still checking every point of the room. "What's up?"

"Not much," Rose said, a little stiffly. "You're early."

"Where's Phasma?"

Then the smile reached Rose's eyes, crinkling into half-moons. She pointed to the bathroom. "In there."

Almost on cue, there was a loud heave, followed by the sound of liquid sloshing into the toilet bowl, and violent, irate swearing.

"She ate something that didn't agree with her."

Rose put two hands in front of her mouth and imitated what Phasma had just been eating, and mouthing the word "Snoke".

"Oh my God, that's gross."

Rose shrugged. "Better her than us though, right?"

Rey nodded, her gaze dropping to the sheer chiffon robe tied around Rose and the white the feather boa tied around her neck. Phasma's vomiting, Rose's underwear-it was a reminder of what they were expected to do. Kylo may not have forced her into anything, but he was just one client, and after Friday she would have to share her body with whoever Phasma booked her with.

"What's up?" Rose asked.

Rey smiled and walked towards the desk, taking Rose's hands in her own. "I wanted to

make sure that you were okay after last night. I've been worried about you."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad Kylo was there to intervene."

Rose paused as if waiting for something, her lips in a half smile, dark eyes twinkling.

"Maybe he's not so bad after all?"

"Maybe," Rey answered and pulled out her phone, pretending to read messages that weren't there.

"He's so different with you."

"Is he?" She didn't look up, but her voice hitched a note higher than she intended.

"You're sly as a fox Rey, you damn-well know he is," Rose smiled, whacking her with the end of her feather boa. "He's seen the light."

Rey caught the string of feathers in her hands, pulling one off teasingly. "Keep your damn bird to yourself."

Rose swatted her across the face with the feathers and they snickered. It was just a moment, a glimpse of childish, carefree laughter. Each of them carrying it on until the moment passed, and their laughter turned into smiles and then silence. The break brought Rey grinding back to thoughts of her lunch with Poe and all the things he had told her about Kylo Ren and the First Order.

Rey lowered her eyes and toyed with the loose feather, pulling it apart until it was destroyed.

"But is that enough?" she mused. "I mean, what about his work for Snoke? Look at what he did to your dickhead client last night. That was nothing to him. The blood, the pain. He hurts people, Rose. Really hurts them."

"And you sell your body for sex."

Rey straightened, frowning. "I don't have a choice."

"And what makes you think Kylo does?"

Rey shook her head, annoyed. "It's not the same."

"Isn't it?"

Rey rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I need to plug my phone in Snoke's office. The battery is almost gone."

She turned to go, but Rose yanked her back.

"No, don't!" Rose's gaze darted to the door warily. "Snoke's already in there with Kylo."

Snoke. Here. The feel of his disgusting hand touching her, his cabinet of "toys", the fact he had been watching her and Kylo that first night, that he had seen her naked, moaning and thrusting. She shivered and stepped back.

In the waiting silence, she heard voices from behind the door. They were getting louder, angrier.

"What have they been talking about?"

Rose shifted her gaze to the door and back, her expression returning to the one Rey had first noticed when she had come in earlier.

"Um, you."

"What!?"

"Just don't go in there."

A viperous, snarling voice rose from behind the door.

"The single fucking minute you even hesitate on my orders you will be in prison and I will drag that girl down here and have her sprawled out on this desk screaming my name—"

"Holy shit, Rey," Rose whispered in her ear. "I think you should go upstairs."

Then, a muffled crack behind the door, a sharp stinging sound that reminded Rey of the way Plutt used to slap the back of her thighs with a belt. The noise made her body jerk back. She couldn't make out either voice now; they were softer, distorted.

"I mean it. Get upstairs and lock the door. I won't tell them I saw you."

She should go.

She should...

"Does Snoke always talk to him like that?" Rey asked, voice shaking. It wasn't fear making it waver like this. It should have been fear, but it wasn't.

Rose nodded. "It's not been this bad for a while."

The door handle rattled and Rose pulled her back behind the counter until it thundered open, smashing against the wall so hard it chipped the plywood. Rose clasped the table, reaching below for something when Kylo charged out, eyes wild and dark, hair messy, falling across his face like black scars, and from his eye to his cheek there was a gash spilling blood.

"What are you looking at?" he barked at them as the girls stood there aghast, mouths open and speechless.

He charged towards the desk and in one violent sweep he slashed his arm across the desk. The green study lamp scattered into uneven shards on the floorboards, while papers scattered in the air.

That beautiful, haunted face, covered in blood. Rey wanted to ask him what had happened, to demand to know what Snoke had done to him, but even as she opened her mouth to speak, he growled at her.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I—" Rey glanced at Rose, looking for backup.

"Rose. Keys." Kylo ignored her, planting both hands on the empty desk and leaning over it. "Hurry."

Rose nodded and searched the drawers, pulling out all the room keys. He pulled the ones marked "8" into his pocket, dark eyes flicking to Snoke's office as if he were waiting for him to appear.

"I think that's all of them," Rose said quickly. "And here, take the master key too. Just in case."

He nodded, casting a wary eye once to Rey and back to Rose. "Make sure she stays up there."

"Excuse me?" Rey balked at his order.

He turned to her and pointed upstairs. "Get up to your room and don't open the door to anyone!"

"No." Rey crossed her arms and looked him square in the eye.

"Will you do what you're fucking told for once?!"

"Not until you tell me—"

Suddenly, Rey's world turned upside down and her stomach lurched as Kylo slung her over his shoulder.

"No time," he muttered.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go!" she shrieked.

But he wouldn't let go and as the blood rushed to her head, she could do nothing but feel her body tugged up and down as he stormed up the stairs in long awkward strides.

"I can't believe this," she hissed the words at his arse, the only part of him she could see other than his long, overgrown legs and feet.

When he still ignored her, she kicked, hands clamouring over his body to find a spot to grab hold. She grabbed his belt and tried to flip her legs over as Master Skywalker had once taught her. For a moment, Kylo almost toppled, swearing under his breath, and then wrapped his arms tighter around her legs in a vice-like hold.

"Keep still," he hissed at her.

"Damn you, Kylo! When you put me down, I'm going to—"

"I know, now shut up."

Rey glared at his pants, folding her arms impatiently, as he kicked the door open and threw her onto the bed.

She fell onto her back, disappearing within the goose down duvet, grunting and kicking until she could jump to her feet, puffing and ready to explode. Kylo had wisely taken a step back, just out of arm's reach.

"Before you start—" he said in a rush, aware that she was about to throw a verbal onslaught his way.

"What the hell is going on?"

"You need to stay here." He marched back to the door, locking it.

"You're not my bloody babysitter—"

"I wouldn't need to be if you didn't make such stupid decisions."

Oh, that was it! Her face was boiling, that coil of anger ready to spring and lash out.

"What—"

"What were you doing with Dameron today?" He spoke over the top of her, his voice loud and unyielding.

Rey's mouth opened and closed. She may have done that twice. She wasn't sure.

"That's none of your business."

Kylo stalked towards her in slow, measured steps, forcing her to sputter out an unprepared answer.

"He's a friend."

"You have dangerous friends."

"You can say that again," she said with a pointed pout.

There was a flicker at the corner of his lips, fleeting, unwelcome. He cleared it away and settled in front of her, much too close.

She was at a disadvantage, forced to look up at him, forced to remember that he was so much larger than her in every way.

He continued, "Are you working with Poe?"

"I—I don't have to answer that," she stammered.

A slight move of his jaw, the hint of a tic beneath his left eye, his tells. He got them whenever his emotions were running high. Tendons strained in his neck, a small racing movement at the base, and then she realised, there wasn't anger there, but something that made his face turn ash-white and his lips tremble. Was it fear?

"It's dangerous, Rey."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning."

"They're the same thing." She paused, chewing on her lips and looking to the side. She looked at the desert painting on the wall, staring at it blankly. "Isn't that what you do, after all? Hurt people?"

She regretted the words almost immediately, even if they were true. How the air drained from his body, his arms falling slack at his sides.

"I would never hurt you, Rey."

God, how that quiet voice broke her, driving away that brazen anger into something tender and protective. She looked at his hands, large and pale, awkwardly waiting by his sides. She wanted to slide her fingers into them and weave them together.

Why did she always want more?

She raised her eyes to his fleetingly, and she saw overwhelming sadness. He shouldn't care what she thought of him, not like this, like she was something more than an abandoned street rat and a whore.

"You know I wouldn't hurt you, don't you?"

"Yes," she whispered, hugging her arms around her body. She had to, otherwise she would have reached out to him.

A lingering silence filled the space between them like mist on the moors. Rey flicked her eyes up and down at him, catching the way his gaze had moved to her mouth, her shoulders. His lips parted, and his breathing slowed—everything slowed. That space between them, invisible but charged, wanting to close.

Rey could feel every beat of her heart as he moved closer, placing a hand on her shoulder, whispering.

"Snoke already suspects a traitor. I'm trying to protect you."

She nodded again and took a slow breath, hoping it would give her courage.

"And who's protecting you?" She moved her hand to his cheek and he flinched. It was instinctual and it broke her heart. How many times has he hit you? she wondered.

"Can I?" Her fingers hovered over his skin.

He nodded and she touched him, so much softer than she could have imagined. With a gentle stroke, she wiped the blood away.

"You need to patch that up, it will scar."

He caught her hand in his own, and swallowed, almost unsure what to do next, studying her fingers. Then he bent his head and placed a kiss on her wrist.

"Kylo," she whispered, barely audible against the hammering of her heart.

It wasn't enough.

Stay with me. Run away with me. We can make it out of here together. All the things she wanted to say, trapped inside.

A man's voice called out to him from the floor below. "Ren, time's up!"

Kylo returned her hand. "I have to go."

He walked away from her.

"Wait!"

He stopped, not looking back.

"Where's Snoke sending you tonight?" she asked, voice high and slightly desperate.

He looked back, brows pinched with a look of consternation. "Why?"

"Are you going after—" She stopped herself from saying the words: San Tekka.

"Am I going after who?"

Rey turned away from him, terrified she would see the answer in his eyes.

She tried to walk away, but he stepped forward and grabbed her forearm, pulling her close.

"Listen. What you're doing, it's too dangerous. I know you want to get out of here, but this is not the way to do it."

"I'm not—"

"Snoke wants you," he said fiercely. "He wants to hurt you... to get to me."

"To get to you?"

"Don't let him in. No matter what he says. Keep your door locked."

Snoke wants me, to get to you. The line rolled over in her mind—

"Promise me."

She faltered; had she really become a tool for Snoke? One he was using to manipulate Kylo? And what would Snoke make him do tonight while he kept Rey's body as ransom?

Would he kill Lor San Tekka?

Her mind rushed with questions. Should she warn Poe? It had to be San Tekka. The fight downstairs, the blood, the urgent, fearful pleading in Kylo's voice.

Everything was moving too fast.

"Promise me," he said again, sterner this time.

"Okay, okay," she answered. "I won't open the door to anyone but you."

"Good." He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, neatly folded. "Here, this Is my number. Call me if you need to."

He turned to leave and by the time she had the courage to confront him not to do this, not to go this way, he left, locking the door behind him.